(Newser)
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Gawker shut down exactly one year ago after a lawsuit involving Hulk Hogan and billionaire Peter Thiel, and in the Washington Post, Michael J. Socolow mourns the loss. "Gawker might have been foolhardy, reckless and ultimately self-destructive, but it was also, above all, courageous," he writes. "With the hindsight of Donald Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency, we should all recognize that courage in the media is needed now more than ever." Many may have considered the site a guilty pleasure, but it was unusually free of influence from corporations, celebrity PR teams, political operatives, and others. It concerned itself with gossip, sure, but it was also on a "crusade to save journalism" and was even partially responsible for exposing the Hillary Clinton email scandal. And, of course, the writers relentlessly skewered Donald Trump.

"All that’s really left to say is that Gawker is gone and that Donald Trump is president," Socolow concludes. "That simple reality should comfort the rich and powerful everywhere and chill the bones of the rest of us." Other coverage of the anniversary of Gawker's death:

Funny, it chills them to the bone when liberals are "silenced" but celebrate when righties are silenced. "Gawker is gone... That simple reality should comfort the rich and powerful everywhere and chill the bones of the rest of us." Oh, don't even. At least Gawker shut its doors as the result of a fair trial. VERY RICH liberal companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. basically control the internet, and they're busy shutting down anyone with opposing viewpoints without so much as an appeals process. So who really has the power here that we should all be worried about? It certainly ain't Peter Thiel/Hogan who used the JUSTICE system to prevail. The real concern is that large tech companies have unchecked power to control the free-flow of information. The media/libs won't care about that as long as it works in their favor, but if those board rooms ever become controlled by Republicans, they'll suddenly find it a problem.